Girl Band
by lilyofthelion
Summary: A one-shot based on a prompt about Marlene and Lily starting a band. Blackinnon and Jily!


Hello!

This is a one-shot I wrote on a beach in Portugal while slightly drunk on green wine. It's based on a prompt I saw on tumblr, and it kind of became it's own thing from there.

This is not canon-compliant, but basically just a story of our favourite characters having fun.

There's both Blackinnon and Jily in this fic, so if you ship either or both this is the place to be!

Happy reading!

-Lily

* * *

_**Girl Band or The Wonderful Workings of a Teenage Girl's mind**_

If you asked Marlene McKinnon, she'd say it all started with her left hand.  
The summer of '77 was slowly and successfully coming to an end and the seventh and final year of Hogwarts was readily waiting for Marlene and her best friend Lily Evans. They'd spent most of the summer together and had grown inseparable. Lily, who'd recently been made Head Girl was quite excited about her last year at Hogwarts. She'd been very proud and happy when she'd received the little golden pin in her Hogwarts letter and had danced around the kitchen. She'd promptly ignored Marlene's listing of why Dumbledore was bonkers to name Lily Evans Head Girl, and Lily had definitely not listened to Marlene, when she'd reminded Lily that they had celebrated the ending of their sixth year of Hogwarts by skinny dipping in the Black lake (while Lily was supposed to be on rounds). Marlene still couldn't believe that this had somehow escaped the great Albus Dumbledore. Lily, however, was quite thankful that no one had caught them and laughed whenever the marauders complained that they hadn't caught the girls.

The fact that Marlene had been the one to get Lily drunk and come up with the idea to do it in the first place was highly irrelevant – according to Marlene herself – and definitely not worth mentioning twice.

Marlene was in Lily's car. It had taken a few weeks, but she had now come to be quite comfortable in the odd vehicle. She had not shared Lily's excitement over the fact that her parents were in Australia and had allowed the girls to use the car freely all summer. However, she had learned to love the way her body rocked softly with the movements of the car. She also especially loved it when Lily played her favourite albums to her. Cue left hand.

Lily was playing her ABBA album for the thrillionth time that summer, which made Marlene's hand tap rhythmically against the opening in the car door that only moments before had swallowed the glass of the window. It was due to a mixture of the music and the feeling that summer would never end and a fresh splash of freckles on Lily's nose and cheeks that Marlene's mind wandered, and brilliance struck.

"We should start a band!"

Lily, who'd been pleasantly humming along to _Dancing Queen_, was shook out of her thoughts and turned to her blonde friend.

"What did you say?" Lily's green eyes were wide in a way that clearly showed she'd heard exactly what Marlene had said but didn't quite seem to believe it.

Marlene's left hand's tapping had only turned more enthusiastic since she'd first spoken, and she was more than happy to repeat herself.

"We should start a band!"

"Are you still drunk from last night?" Lily asked in a laugh and rubbed the side of her face as if she surely was.

"I'm serious!" Marlene told Lily. Marlene was known for her odd ideas and sudden outbursts of emotion and so she felt the need to clarify that this wasn't just another one of her crazy stunts.

"Please don't say that" Lily begged as she pushed her sunglasses further up her nose bridge.

"Why not?" Marlene asked. She felt a little annoyed that they were already getting off topic.

"So many bad jokes usually follow" Lily said, "It's because of, oh well, you'll understand once you meet them"

"You're acting as if I don't already know them" Marlene said with a roll of her eyes. Her hand had stopped its tapping and was now scratching at a faded sticker on the car that said _Flower power_ with daisies instead of o's and in what used to be bright yellow letters.

"You don't know them anymore" Lily said, which was her entire argument for why Marlene was even to join her today.

"I still can't believe they invented that awful nickname themselves" Marlene told Lily. She wasn't about to start arguing with Lily. Her best friend's temper fulfilled every bad muggle joke Marlene had ever heard about ginger people.

"Neither can I" Lily told Marlene and her words were followed by an eye-roll that did not fool her best friend one bit.

"Didn't stop you from-"

"Oi! I thought we agreed not to speak of this anymore!" Lily instantly cut her off as her cheeks flamed red.

"I didn't agree. You agreed for us, but fine. Yeah. I won't mention again how you caved and indulged in a major snog-fest with the recently appointed Head Boy? That'll never leave these lips" Marlene smugly said.

"I'd hit you if I wasn't driving" Lily said in a bitter voice, but a self-satisfied smirk had found its way to her lips at the mention of her recent activities with James Potter, "even if it was after-"

"After even ungodly beautiful Em Vance had tried at him, I _know_, Lils, you've told me-"

"A million times, I know" Lily finished for her, "It's just that I can't-"

"-tell your other friends, which I for one find extremely funny considering they think I'm the one who's bad for you" Marlene said matter-of-factly.

"They only judge you because they don't get you" Lily said sympathetically. She was always lost between her warring friends, and it always left Marlene feeling a little bad for her.

"And even though I am very proud by your ability to seduce Potter, I now know more descriptors of his tongue than I ever wanted to, believe me, so please don't add more to it"

"I'm just saying I had competition" Lily said and laughed again. Marlene swore that when Lily laughed like that it could cure cancer.

"You've 'just said' more than enough" Marlene said, but even she couldn't deny the smile that had formed on her lips at her silly, proud friend.

If you asked Lily Evans, it had all started with the party.

The annual End of Summer-do was held by none other than James Potter and Sirius Black. As if that wasn't enough to make anyone nervous, they always held it the second to last weekend of the summer. That was when their parents went to France and left the two teenage boys alone to themselves in a manor. For the past three years, James and his fellow marauders had ceased the opportunity to throw a major do. It always worked like clockwork. The moment their parents left, the invitations were sent out. Only a few select people were left out, and they always consisted purely of bigoted Slytherins.

Lily and Marlene were in the car on the way to the party that by now had caused Lily so many headaches, she felt it couldn't really be defined as one anymore.

Lily had never been more nervous about going.

Her first issue was that she was to see James Potter. Lily did not regret kissing James Potter because when could one really? She just felt so much pressure because of it. It was common knowledge that James fancied her and had for quite a while. It was however new that Lily reciprocated those feelings. She felt fine one day and the next her head was gone and all she could see was his stupid face whenever she closed her eyes. It had been like stepping into a cobweb. Her feelings had come suddenly and were not at all appreciated.

She knew James would want her to go to the party. After all, he was the one to throw it. She was also certain that he knew exactly what he wanted for them to become, and this made her palms sweaty and her mind go blank because she had absolutely no idea. She had liked kissing him, yes, quite a bit, but did that mean she wanted to go out with him? And if she did, and it didn't work out, then what? Would she lose him as a friend? She had grown quite fond of his presence in her life in the past year and wasn't sure she was ready to lose it so soon.

The second issue was Marlene. It had taken Lily four hours and cost her three chocolate frogs and a bottle of firewhiskey to get Marlene to agree to go to the party with her. It would be Marlene's first time to go, and Lily knew there were some real concerns behind the seemingly shallow reasons that Marlene didn't want to go. Marlene, whilst smart, funny, ambitious and generally well-liked amongst her peers was not welcome at the party for one reason.

She was a Slytherin.

Lily had met Marlene as a result of her being friends with Severus Snape. Of course, Lily never spoke to him anymore and hadn't since that one fateful day when he'd called her a you-know-what. Lily refused to even think it. Marlene had not been friends with Severus, actually, she'd been the one to convince Lily to give up on him. Marlene had proved to be the first person that Lily could listen to, who didn't have their own agenda or an ulterior motive when she gave Lily advice on Severus. Lily's Gryffindor friends always loved to give her advice as well, but Lily felt it was inadequate as they didn't know Snape and had never bothered to even try to do so. Marlene, however, was in the same house and knew what he was like.

It had been a warm spring day at the end of fifth year when Lily and Marlene had talked for the first time. They had not been friends, but Marlene had simply wanted to help Lily out. Something that the red-head had sworn to never forget. Even if it had involved a few colourful words and some questions that had made Lily blush quite furiously.

They had been best friends ever since.

They had not talked about the day Snape had called Lily _that_ word, but Marlene had had to bring it up the night before, when Lily had tried desperately to convince Marlene that it was a good idea to go to the party.

The upper half of Marlene's body had been submerged in Lily's closet in a desperate search for something to borrow to wear, when she'd finally mentioned it.

"I mean it's not as if I ever supported you being friends with him. _I_ wasn't even friends with him and was still the one, who had to convince you of what a cocker he was"

"I know" Lily had replied.

Marlene had emerged from Lily's closet the next moment. The annoyance in her voice had crept onto her face, but she did her best to put on a smile.

"Being ginger really limits your colour options, doesn't it?" Marlene had asked.

Lily hadn't doubted for a moment that Marlene would go.

Lily's friends had never taken to Marlene. Like with Severus, they had refused to give her a chance because of the colour of her school tie. The one-time Lily had pointed out that this made them as bigoted as the very Slytherins they were bad-mouthing, they'd practically shunned her from their dormitory.

Lily looked over at Marlene in the car and saw that she'd pulled on her game face. Also, Marlene seemed to become invincible as long as you let her wear her favourite red lipstick. She might've been ready to jump out of the moving car, but she would do everything she could to be on her best behaviour, simply because Lily had asked. Lily knew there was nothing on this planet that Marlene wouldn't do, if Lily asked. She would just make damn sure to be dramatic about it.

Marlene was Lily's favourite person in the world. She was as ambitious about her studies as Lily was and advocated for muggleborns even though it caused her to be lonely sometimes. But it was more than that. Marlene pushed Lily to become more alive. When Lily had been made Head Girl, Marlene had Blasted _We Will Rock You_ and the two girls had danced around Lily's bedroom until they were laughing loudly and completely out of breath.

* * *

Marlene and Lily were the only two people who'd arrived by way of muggle transportation. Marlene assured the nervous-looking Lily that it only made them look more Rock and roll, but Lily had merely responded with a roll of her ever-green eyes. Marlene had been certain since the moment that she and Lily had left for the party that it was a bad idea to go together. Marlene knew that Lily would hear none of it, but people treated her differently when Marlene was around. Lily said it was only Marlene being paranoid, but she saw it in the way people looked at them.

The Potter manor's garden was decorated with little bonfires around the lawn and lanterns that floated in the air. A stage was set up and a band was playing a rendition of _(I'm) Stranded_ to their left. To their right a bar was set up and Marlene saw a group of people, who didn't look much past their fourth year and were lining up shots of firewhiskey. It was going to be a long night, and Marlene felt the instant need to distract her mind.

"We should start brain-storming for band names" Marlene told Lily as she watched the band and rocked her body from side to side with the music.

"Mars, we're not starting a band!" Lily said and turned to her friend with her hands on her hips. Marlene knew it would take a lot of discussion but very little convincing to get Lily to agree to Marlene's new, brilliant plan.

"Marlily" Marlene tried out and frowned instantly, "No, that's too easy"

"Speaking of things that are too easy, am I to be worried about you at this party?" Lily asked. She watched Marlene with her left eyebrow arched and a devilish smile on her lips as if she was well aware of how weak Marlene's willpower was.

Marlene, however, refused to budge and nonchalantly threw her long, blonde curls over her shoulder.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" Marlene said because she knew exactly what Lily was hinting at.

"Just…don't hex him or shag him or something. Okay?"

"I don't even know who you're talking about" Marlene said even though she knew that if she closed her eyes all she'd be able to see was piercing grey eyes and that stupid leather jacket.

The slightest look of concern had slipped onto Lily's face, but Marlene pretended not to see. She didn't like feeling like a little child, who was incapable of looking out for herself even thought that was exactly what she felt like when she was around _him_.

"You don't even know that he's here" Marlene said because she was done with the subject.

Lily scoffed, "Of course he's here. He's James' best friend and he left home to live here"

"You don't need to remind me" Marlene said, "I was the one he left"

Lily opened her mouth to say something that was surely comforting, but it never came out as they were interrupted.

"Lily!"

Marlene and Lily both turned to the annoyingly high squeal that had interrupted them, and they were met by Lily's dormmates.

"Hi!" Lily instantly said and grabbed Marlene's hand and pulled her along to go meet her friends.

"Oh…and you brought…Marlene?" Hestia Jones asked as her eyes found Marlene. The two girls already knew each other from the Quidditch field. Hestia played Keeper for Gryffindor, while Marlene played Chaser for Slytherin. She had also recently been appointed Captain but had somehow not been able to tell Lily yet.

"'Lo" Marlene offered the girls, who offered a nod of their head or a small wave. Lily looked miserable between her dormmates and Marlene.

"Did everyone have good summers?" Lily asked a little too eagerly.

"Oh, yes!" Mary MacDonald said. She was a small girl with mousy-brown hair and a high-pitched voice. She seemed harmless to Marlene, who was yet to find anything interesting about the girl.

"Some more than others. Did you hear that Em Vance and Black had a fling?" Alice Fortescue asked Lily, who instantly shot a nervous look at Marlene, who promptly pretended not to have seen it.

"Oh? I thought she was after Potter" Lily said. Her voice grew a little higher when she mentioned James' name and her cheeks had turned a delicate shade of pink.

Mary shrugged, "Guess she got tired of it. Apparently, he turned her down pretty hard. Someone else must've gotten his attention"

"Wonder who" Marlene spoke so softly only Lily could hear, but it made Lily's blush darken and Marlene bit her lip not to laugh. She loved her friend to bits, but lately Lily seemed to turn into a blubbering mess whenever James was the subject of, well, anything.

"Guess so" Lily instantly agreed, "Speaking of, have you seen him?"

She got her answer the next second. Marlene and Lily both heard the boys before they saw them. Lily seemed to have lost any interest in the conversation, and quickly turned around and gazed dreamily in the direction of their voices.

"Everyone gather round, please!" James Potter's voice rang loud and clear as he stood on a makeshift podium, which seemed to have been constructed from a case of butterbeer and a chair.

Lily and the Gryffindor girls all turned their attention to the newly appointed Head Boy. Marlene's focus was another story. Next to James Potter stood Sirius Black. He wore a black leather jacket that seemed way too warm for the August air, and wore his signature smug grin on his face. He was joined by Remus Lupin, who was holding a large, golden box and wore a big smile as he listened to what the smallest of the boys, Peter Pettigrew, was telling him.

"Wonderful, they're all here" Marlene whispered in Lily's ear in her most sarcastic voice, which earned her a nervous smile and a thumbs-up from Lily.

"Thank you all so much for coming! We're very excited to have you all here" James called into the crowd. As always, the boy loved attention and looked to be very pleased that all the partygoers listened carefully to every word he spoke. This would usually make Lily frown and whisper something cross in Marlene's ear, but now Marlene watched Lily look even more caught up in him than every other person at the party put together.

"Feeling _inspired_?" Marlene asked Lily loudly. It was one of the many adjectives that Lily had chosen to describe what she had felt like when snogging Potter. Lily only responded by giving Marlene the finger. Something that set the blonde off laughing.

"As per tradition we have created a little game for you tonight!" James said, "Moony, if you please?"

Remus Lupin stepped forward and James Potter opened the lid of the box and pulled out a red velvet top hat. It looked like something people wore in old muggle movies and Lily met Marlene's gaze with a question in her eyes.

Sirius Black looked out at the crowd to watch their reactions and seemed to take a great deal of pleasure in their obvious confusion. He then joined James on the podium and placed his hands in his pocket to keep looking suave. It only made him look sillier than James.

"The rules of the hat are simple. Our beloved Prongs will be the first to wear it. You get the hat by challenging the person who's wearing it! You pick the dare you wish to challenge the person wearing the hat with yourself – it can be anything! If you beat the person, you get the hat. If not, you don't. The person to wear the hat at midnight will receive a prize – we won't say what, but it's good" Sirius called.

"Please, don't hurt each other!" James added but the grin on his face looked as if he hoped something would go wrong.

"Now, have fun!" Sirius called. He raised a shot of firewhiskey high into the air and every guest at the party joined him in a round of cheers. Lily turned back to Marlene and sent her a look that said she clearly tried to act as if she wasn't impressed by all this.

"I don't know any two people who enjoy attention more" Marlene said and folded her arms over her chest.

"James is so self-loving" Lily added in a disgusted tone.

"And Black is just a proper git"

Lily agreed, "They're so condescending"

"Think they're superior to everyone" Marlene pointed out.

"Lacks manners" Lily said and gazed back at the boys with an unreadable look on her face.

"Bastards" Marlene agreed, and the two girls clinked their newly acquired shot glasses together and downed a shot of firewhiskey.

"So, this is where the party happens!" James called as the two girls both were grimacing due to the scorching of their throats. Lily and Marlene turned with matching looks of nervousness on their faces.

"Hello, Potter" Marlene replied to give her best friend a moment not to make a fool out of herself. Lily looked like she was about to faint. As Marlene had suspected, Sirius joined them a few seconds after. He looked utterly surprised to see Marlene there, and she watched his eyes as they travelled from her head to toe and noticed when they got a little lost on the way.

"Evans! Good to see you…McKinnon, you came?" Sirius asked with his usual cocky smile all set in place.

Marlene sighed, "Lily invited me"

"And you thought it was a good idea?" Sirius' eyes met hers and she could read the challenge in them.

"'Course" Marlene said dismissively, "Lils, let's get another drink"

Marlene grabbed Lily's arm and the two girls hastened away from the boys.

"James does not look fit at all" Lily stated, but the way she bit her lip suggested otherwise.

"Why is Black wearing a leather jacket? It's summer!"

Lily turned to Marlene, "Do you think they've been playing Quidditch much?"

The two girls shared a pained look and they both watched Sirius and James. They were impossibly good-looking, and it did not help Marlene's resoluteness one bit.

* * *

Marlene had been given two shots, a bottle of Butterbeer and been dragged to the dance floor. All courtesy of her best friend, who had decided she was much too sober to talk to James yet. Marlene, who had her very own awkward romantic debacle to avoid, happily danced with her best friend to the music. That was, until they were interrupted. Marlene did a spin and when she regained her balance Sirius Black was in front of her.

For a moment she just watched him. She could never look at him without having a million different feelings stir up in her chest, but she knew for certain that the dominant one at this moment was anger.

She pushed through the crowd and wished to walk away from him like he had her. She wanted him to feel the pain she'd felt. To know what it was like to lose someone you loved.

"Marlene!" he called after her. Of course, he'd followed her.

Marlene didn't stop until she was halfway through the Potter manor, which had an annoying number of hallways and doors that made her stall. She had just stopped in one of the living rooms when Sirius caught up to her. He moved to stand in front of her so that he couldn't be ignored. Marlene folded her arms across her chest and looked down at the toe of her sandal.

"Just talk to me" Sirius finally said after a moment of silence. He put a hand under her chin and lifter her eyes to meet his.

She could not read the emotions in his eyes, but that was nothing new. She had never been able to figure him out.

"What?"

"I know you're mad, but I just need to know that you're okay" Sirius told her. In a simpler time, she might've believed his seemingly small request. However, she'd learned the hard way that nothing that went on between the two of them was ever as it appeared. He always had an ulterior motive.

She was so tired of how she felt around him. She decided it was time they changed.

"You know what I wanna know?" she snapped at him. The volume of her voice seemed to take him by surprise, and his hand instantly dropped from her chin.

"I want to know which one of these girls is going around and feeling sorry for me because I don't see that they already got you"

"Mar, there's no way this can help us" Sirius told her. His voice had lost its note of softness and she could already tell that he was annoyed with her. Good, she thought, at least her plan worked.

"Which one? Hm, Siri? Which one?"

"You're messing with my head" he snapped and stepped so close that he spit on her lips as he spoke. Marlene didn't move an inch.

"Which one?"

"You can't just show up here with no invite and then start questioning me about who I'm shagging. It's none of your business!" he told her angrily.

His eyes flicked between hers and for the first time she felt as if she could read his warring thoughts. She knew him better than anyone, she was sure of that, but that was also one of the reasons he'd pushed her away. She was too close not to get burned but that did not make her step away from the flames.

"Em Vance" he finally said in a voice so hollow it didn't sound real. Marlene felt the singe of the pain and took a step back from him not to let him see the tears that had started to form in her eyes. With that one name she'd lost all her will to fight him. She'd somehow forgotten how much it hurt.

"So, what? She got bored with James and went after you?" Marlene asked.

Sirius put his hands in his pockets and didn't meet her eyes.

"Something like that"

Marlene scoffed, "Sounds like your kind of girl"

"She's unimportant" he told her and finally met her eyes. Marlene gave a curt nod and turned her back to him. She felt so angry at herself that she still felt this way around him. It didn't matter how many times she told herself that he was not her problem any longer. She always found a way back to him.

"Marlene" Sirius spoke. He was much closer to her than she thought, and a moment passed before she felt his hands on her hips. She closed her eyes.

They both knew exactly what was going to happen and as such neither of them was surprised when their lips finally met in a heated kiss.

Marlene was angry, and he was sad, but she wasn't about to let him get away this time. She wasn't going to let herself become nothing to him again.

As gravity succumbed to them and they melted together, Marlene made sure that she was in charge. This time, she wouldn't just be another shag to him. She made sure that with every touch and kiss and moan that he would not be able to get her out of his head. She wanted to be the thing that haunted him. That the next time he would be in this position with some other girl, she'd be the thing on his mind. She didn't just change the game but rewrote their rules and for the first time ever she was the one who decided what went on between them.

* * *

"You're wearing the hat?" Marlene asked. As soon as she'd spoken though she realized it had sounded as if she'd said, '_you're_ wearing the hat?'

Remus wasn't shaken easily and told her in a teasing voice "The surprise in your voice hurts"

"Oh no, I didn't mean I was just – I mean, you're supposed to be the nice one, right?" Marlene gabbed in a weak attempt to save herself.

"Why does everyone think that?" Remus asked and sat down in the grass next to her. Marlene offered a would-be innocent smile.

"Blue eyes? Blonde curls?"

"Well you'd know" he said and gestured to her own looks, which made her laugh a little.

"But it's good to know looks _do_ deceive" he added sarcastically.

Marlene gritted her teeth.

"Yes."

Remus smirked, "That's a lot of bitterness for one word. Care to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing" Marlene said but her answer came too quickly for it to sound genuine. Remus saw through her easily.

"Let me take a wild guess – it has something to do with Padfoot?"

Marlene couldn't remember who was who with the marauders and their silly, childish nicknames. However, she strongly suspected they weren't talking about Pettigrew.

Marlene folded her arms over her chest, "My whole world doesn't revolve around him, you know"

Her tone and posture were defensive enough to scare away most people. Remus, however, was not like most people and moved to sit next to her instead.

"So, your buttons came undone without help?" Remus asked with a smug smile on his face.

Marlene instantly looked down herself and realized her bra was showing. She hastily buttoned her dress, and felt her cheeks grow warm in embarrassment.

"Guess I don't have a leg to stand on" she told him, and he laughed appreciatively "Now, tell me, how did you knock off the hat?"

"I won it!" Remus told her "Stop laughing, I did!"

Marlene grinned at him, "From whom, might I ask?"

"Oh, you're going to love this" Remus told her excitedly, "I have it from Black"

He had been right. A smug, satisfied smile formed on her face and she instantly felt much more chipper than before at the thought of Sirius losing the hat.

"How did you get it?"

"It is sort of still on-going" Remus told her almost sheepishly, "Told him I'd snog a better bird than him"

Marlene's face fell instantly, and a lethal form of spite stuck on her next words.

"Who did he snog?"

"Em Vance" Remus told her. He seemed to have picked up on how disgruntled Marlene had turned, "She's gotten even more fit over the summer, Sirius won the hat from James by snogging her"

"Well, aren't you just a bunch of charming boys" Marlene said and looked anywhere but at Remus, "Going around telling girls if they're fit or not"

"I know this sounds horrible, but it's just a game, Marlene" Remus told her "Now that you're here and you know the game…will you help me find a girl to snog?"

"What did I just say?"

"I don't want to lose! Also, don't you kind of want to stick it to Black?"

Marlene rolled her eyes, "That's just too easy"

"It won't be a bad thing! I promise! You see, whoever _I_ snog gets to wear the hat as a crown to be the fittest girl at the party"

Marlene rolled her eyes, "Yes. There's nothing more prideful than the marauder stamp of approval. Do you lot think everything is a prank?"

"Please, Marlene! Sirius and James always get the fittest girls and I'm tired of it. Please, help me?"

"First, I'd like to point out that this is so daft as well as a gross ignorance of female integrity in general-"

"But?" Remus pleaded.

"But, yeah, you're right. I'd like to kick Sirius' arse at something, so I am in" Marlene promised Remus. There was a nagging voice at the back of her head that informed her it was the firewhiskey agreeing to this and not her sober self. Marlene simply couldn't find it in her heart to care.

"Alright, we need to-"

"You two look like you're up to no good" Lily plopped down in Remus' previous seat in the grass in front of them and pointed a finger at the two of them. The fact that she had slurred a little and that the hand she had pointed with also held a muggle beer made the whole thing much less intimidating.

"What makes you say that?" Remus asked in a faux-innocent voice.

"I can smell trouble a mile away" Lily informed them almost proudly, "And you two _reek_"

"We don't have time for this" Marlene told her best friend, "We need to figure out some very serious stuff"

"What?" Lily enquired and looked positively intrigued. With a marauder involved it was hard to blame her.

Remus then explained the entire situation to Lily, who listened intently. Her eyes grew wide and she clapped her hands together before Remus had a chance to finish. The action caused her beer to spill over her, but she didn't move to clean herself. Marlene fixed her with a quick whoosh of her wand.

"I know just the girl! Actually, you've already said it yourself" Lily told them, "You have to snog Mars!"

"_What_?!" Marlene and Remus yelled at the same time. Neither of them had time to laugh about the coincidence and were both focused on Lily.

"I can't kiss Marlene!" Remus said in a desperate voice and looked between the two girls with wide eyes.

"You said yourself that Sirius and James pick the fittest girls – she's already been pre-picked for you" Lily said and winked at Marlene, who did not appreciate this point.

"Lily, first of all you make me sound like a ruddy fruit. Second of all, I'm not going to be known as the bloody party-crasher who ended up snogging a marauder!" Marlene told Lily in a stern voice. She'd already been mad enough to shag Black, which she could tell from the lack of pestering that Lily didn't know yet. It was bad enough.

Lily smiled smugly, "I'm pretty sure nobody here cares who you snog"

"I don't give niffler's arse what the people here think or don't think! It is not bloody happening!" Marlene hissed. A few people in their vicinity looked a little miffed at her words, but she was too drunk and upset to notice.

"I second that" Remus told the girls.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Let me ask you this, Mars. What's stopping you?" There was a challenge in her words and in the look that she gave Marlene. One that left Marlene a little stunned, and she didn't answer because they both knew the thing that stopped her. It was the same reason that had made her break up with her last boyfriend, caused her whole summer to be lonely even if she had spent most of her time with Lily and made for many sleepless nights wondering why no one ever wanted her. The reason was about ten feet away from her, in the midst of chatting up some girl and it wore a leather jacket.

"Marlene, love, it's time you get over your Sirius Black-anxiety. You've been under his spell ever since he left you. Don't say it's not true! You're my best friend and I know you. This could be a chance for you to move on"

"It's not him" Marlene tried to argue but her voice lacked decisiveness.

"I just think I'd be healthy" Lily pressed, "Like a cleansing of the soul"

"Snogging me is healthy? I care to disagree" Remus told them both. This made Lily sigh tiredly, but Marlene grinned at him.

"Well, I'm sorry Rem, but I don't care what you think" Lily told him.

"Wasn't this _about_ helping me?" Remus pointed out.

"You two could help each other" Lily said suggestively and winked at them.

Marlene looked from Lily to Remus to Sirius. Of course, Lily had seen through her pretense to be fine. How could she be anyway? Sirius Black had not just left his family when he'd run away to be with the Potters. He'd also left her.

Marlene knew that she couldn't blame him, completely. The moment Marlene's family came out as muggleborn supporters, the Black family had cut all ties to them. She wouldn't have been allowed to see any member of the Black family, which she was mostly fine with, as they were bad people, but she would have never let anyone keep her from Sirius. As it were, no one had had to because Sirius had made the decision for her. She understood why Sirius had left his old life behind him, she had just never expected to be one of the things he was willing to part with.

Her heart always broke a little when she was around him. He'd been the most important person to her one day, and the next he'd left her and refused to give her an explanation as to why.

Peter Pettigrew joined the trio then and brought Marlene back from her thoughts.

"Oi, Moony. Have you found a bird to snog yet? Pad's getting much too cocky by the minute. Thinks he's won"

Marlene felt like she'd been underwater for the past two years. Sirius Black was the thing that had kept her down. It was time she fought to get free and find a way to breathe again.

"Is that firewhiskey?"

Peter nodded, "It is – Wait! That was my drink!"

It was now or never, Marlene decided, and had downed Peter's drink in one big swig.

"I need a camera" Lily giggled excitedly, "Oh, it's a muggle device that– never mind, this is too exciting!"

"What's going on?" Peter wanted to know. He got his answer just then. Marlene wasn't sure if Remus moved first, or if she did, but the space between them was closed and within a second, they were kissing. Marlene had kissed the same boy for so long it felt strange to kiss someone new. It wasn't bad or good. It was just different. Remus' lips moved against hers and she instantly thought he was a good kisser. It was just odd to kiss someone and not have it accompanied by a sudden flutter in her stomach.

Remus pulled away and wore a sheepish look on his face. Marlene felt light-headed and decided it was caused by a mixture of firewhiskey and a lack of air.

"I can die happy" Peter told them.

"Bloody. _Hell_." Lily said.

Remus smiled and turned to Marlene.

"I owe you a hat" he took the hat off and carefully placed it on her head. Marlene grinned at him and extended her hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you" she told Remus formally, but her reddened lips were still formed into a smile.

"Cheers" Remus replied and shook her hand.

With some nervousness, Marlene turned her gaze to the person she most wanted to see the reaction of but was unable to find him.

Sirius had left.

* * *

"What's going on?" Lily asked Marlene.

"I have a surprise for you!" Marlene told her excitedly. She'd grabbed Lily's arm and now pulled her across the garden. Lily instantly felt nervous. It was never a good thing when Marlene was this excited about something. Experience told Lily that Marlene was up to something that Lily definitely wouldn't approve of and a moment later she was proved right.

Marlene had led her behind the stage on the lawn. The second they'd stopped, Marlene had thrust a hairbrush into Lily's hand and instantly started to reapply her own lipstick.

"What have you done?" Lily asked more nervously now than angry.

"Ladies and gentlemen" James Potter's voice could be heard through the speakers and Lily guessed he was on the stage, "The Hat Challenge is being taken to a new level this year! The current hat-wearer, Ms. Marlene McKinnon, has been challenged to a song contest by Gryffindor's very own Mary MacDonald! We need everyone here to vote for whoever they like best!"

"Ow!" Marlene yelped as Lily smacked her arm.

"You're telling me MacDonald just happened to challenge you to a song contest when you've been gabbing about nothing else all night?!" Lily asked in disbelief.

"Hey! I snogged Lupin for you! The least you can do is sing a song with me! We're a band, remember?"

"I never agreed to that!" Lily told Marlene, "Besides-"

James Potter's voice cut Lily off as he introduced them to the stage.

"Please, help me welcome – my personal favourite – The Flower Powers!"

"Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me!" Lily told Marlene, but the beginning of a grin could be seen on her face.

It was a band-name that Marlene had stolen from Lily herself. Lily and her sister Petunia had formed a band with that name when Lily was five.

"Come on, now. The crowd's waiting"

Lily shook her head and laughed, "Bloody hell, Marlene. What are we even singing?"

The crowd waited in excitement as Lily and Marlene walked on stage. Lily felt her knees wobble a little, but then Marlene threw the crowd her most winning smile and tipped the hat at them in greeting. They went positively mad for her, and as Lily watched them she suddenly believed they could do this.

Marlene had charmed both their dresses to sparkle before they walked on stage, and now Lily looked down at her dark green dress to find that the light caught it and made it look festive enough to give her the confidence she needed to do this.

"Hello, everyone! We're very excited about this challenge!" Marlene's voice rang out loud and clear. Lily watched her best friend with her sparkling white dress and her smiling red lips, and she felt an odd sense of pride. She knew this was the very last place in the world Marlene wanted to be. Well, at the party. She was certain Marlene was quite proud that she'd managed to trick Lily to go on stage.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to Sirius Black" Marlene said, which sent a lot of whisper through the crowd, and Lily threw her best friend a quick glance only to see that Marlene's gaze was focused elsewhere.

Lily easily found Sirius in the crowd. He was taller than most of the other people there, and he was the only one mad enough to wear a jacket in this weather. She could tell from the way his lips were curled into a snarl that he must've held Marlene's eyes.

"It's called _You're So Vain_"

Lily knew the song, of course. Marlene had blasted it non-stop in her bathroom when she showered all summer. When Lily asked her about why she loved it so much, she simply said she felt inspired. Lily wasn't fooled by that. She knew how deep a cut Black had left on her best friend's heart, and happily began singing the words with her best friend.

_You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht_

No one in the crowd would know that Lily had hesitated for even a second about going on stage. She and Marlene put on a show for the ages and they sang and danced on stage. They had spent enough time that summer singing and dancing in Lily's kitchen to actually make it seem as if they had practiced what they were going to do, and the crowd loved them.

They whistled and clapped and sang along and it boosted the girl's egos enough to make them enjoy it to the fullest.

_I'll bet you think this song is about you, don't you? Don't you?_

Lily's eyes finally found James. He stood at the side of the stage and looked to be her number one groupie as he jumped up and down and yelled along to the lyrics in a bad show of camaraderie to his best friend. His eyes found her, and she didn't even feel bad for having been caught staring at him.

She grinned at him and he winked at her. The next thing she saw was Em Vance walk up to him, and without a single word she grabbed James' face and pulled him down to meet her lips.

Lily dropped her microphone as she watched them because James didn't instantly pull back.

_You gave away the things you loved and one of them was me_

Marlene looked at Lily in horror as she messed up their song, but then noticed the look on her best friend's face and followed her eyes to James and Em.

Lily had seen enough. Without another glance at the crowd or Marlene or James she ran off the stage and cursed herself for being dumb enough to think that she had ever been anything special to James Potter.

* * *

Marlene found her, of course.

"I'm sorry you lost the hat" Lily told Marlene. She felt almost like she choked on her own self-pity as she sat in front of one of the many bonfires in the garden. She had chosen the one furthest away from the manor and the stage and other people.

"Don't be" Marlene told her in an easy voice that didn't match the worried look on her face.

"I can't believe Mary beat you at something" Lily said and picked at the straws of grass in front of her folded legs.

"I know" Marlene agreed and joined her friend on the grass, "I might have to reconsider how cool she is"

"Who'd have thought?" Lily said. Her voice and posture revealed the bitterness that was slowly filling her heart, but she did not want to speak of it.

"James pulled away from Em a second after you left" Marlene said carefully.

"I…I don't even care" Lily lied, "Things with me and Potter are always going to be messy. I'm tired of it"

Marlene gave a small nod of her head but didn't say anything. Lily appreciated her silence.

"Distract me, please" Lily finally begged when the silence left too much room for her head to think about James Potter's lips on her lips and on Vance's lips.

"I, uh, I might've accidentally shagged Black" Marlene said in a quiet voice.

"You what?!" Lily instantly turned to her best friend to see the look of shame on her face. Lily rolled her eyes and lay down in the grass.

"I know, okay? Please don't say anything" Marlene begged her friend, "I just…he walked up to me and said all these things and I got confused and he looked so fit and I'm weak"

"You're not" Lily promised her friend, "You're just in love"

"That's the bloody same thing" Marlene sighed.

Lily gave a laugh, "This is such a _Knowing me, knowing you _moment"

"You're mad! It's such a _Cold as Ice _moment" Marlene instantly argued.

"Oh please, Mars, we'll never be famous if you keep choosing such depressing songs!" Lily told Marlene, who snorted loudly.

"Lily, there are more bands than just ABBA! We'll never make it if all we sing about is being happy!"

"Oh, I forgot how bloody stubborn you are!" Lily groaned, but she was not annoyed at all. She saw the look of fire in Marlene's eyes, and felt lucky to have a friend she could talk music with so passionately.

"The crowd did seem to love us" Marlene finally said with a grin on her face.

"I had so much fun" Lily said and grimaced, "But we're definitely changing our band name!"

"Does that mean you're in?" Marlene asked excitedly.

Lily looked at Marlene and felt her heart ache a little. Not only did Marlene look more excited about this than she had with anything else all summer, but it was the first time since Marlene's father had been killed that Lily saw her honestly interested in a future. How could Lily say no to that? It seemed that to be on stage and express herself through song had made her happier than she had been in months, and sure, it wasn't the healthiest way to work out her issues, but if it worked, wasn't that enough?

Lily bit her lip as she weighed the options in her head. She knew their seventh years was going to be busy enough as it was with her Head duties and NEWTs. But Marlene was her best friend, and Lily felt like this was their very last chance of real, actual fun before they had to leave Hogwarts and join the war.

Was it wrong to play songs and act silly when muggleborns and muggle supporters were killed every day? Maybe. Or maybe, that was why she should do it. Lily felt that if she did not do this, she'd let Voldemort win because she'd let him control her life choices. Lily refused to be scared by that foolish, bigoted monster.

"I'm going to regret this!" Lily told Marlene, who instantly started to clap her hands excitedly, which made her curls bounce around her head.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" Marlene hugged Lily tightly. She was practically chomping at the bit.

"I'm picking the song next time though!" Lily told Marlene sternly. The blonde responded with a wink.

"We'll see" she told Lily, who stuck out her tongue at her.

The two girls headed for the bar arm in arm and were already in the midst of a fight about song choices when Lily's name was called.

She turned at the sound and saw James Potter run in her direction. She barely had time to think before he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard. She expected herself to push him away instantly, but there was something desperate in the way he kissed her that made her not want to let him go.

Somewhere in her mind, Lily registered some wolf-whistles and Marlene's loud laugh, but it all disappeared as she kissed James back. When they were both running out of air, James pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

"I did _not_ want Vance to kiss me" he told her in a husky voice that made Lily feel a little dizzy.

Lily surprised them both when she smiled and said, "I believe you".

* * *

Marlene found him two hours later.

He sat in his usual spot on the roof and smoked a cigarette. Small rings of smoke and a sullen expression greeted her when she climbed into the spot next to him.

"I'm much too intoxicated to be climbing roofs" she told him as way of greeting.

"Lost the hat?" he asked, as way of replying.

"Yes, but I had it for a while. Apparently, I'm the fittest bird now" she told him only to piss him off.

Sirius scoffed, "You needed to snog my mate to figure that out?"

Marlene reached over and grabbed the cigarette from between his fingers and took a drag of it. She didn't let the smoke reach her lungs but simply breathed it out into the summer air and watched it dance before them.

"I helped a friend" she finally responded.

"Hell of a friend you are" Sirius surly told her.

He had worn the same unreadable expression on his face since she'd joined him, and it didn't change when she moved closer to him. She lay down next to him and noticed how their hips touched but didn't mention it.

She wondered if he noticed it, too.

"So, did you like my song?"

"Piss off" Sirius replied. He pulled a new cigarette from his pack and placed it between his lips but didn't light it.

"Thought so" she responded bitterly.

She came to a stop. He followed. She hesitated. He waited. She felt as if they were playing a secret game. Every word was a move. Their answers were a counteract. She wondered if they'd ever actually win, or they'd simply keep battling each other in a tireless match that would leave them both defeated. She just knew she could never go back to the time she kept losing every match.

"Why did you come tonight?" Sirius asked her then.

Marlene had simply watched the rest of her cigarette burn out and now threw the bud off the roof.

"Lily invited me"

"You were invited to a bloody lot of parties this summer" Sirius told her, "You turned down every single one"

"It's our last summer" Marlene finally said, "Ever. Next year we'll be out there fighting a war" she made a half-hearted gesture to the city in their vicinity. It would have been more impressive with less alcohol in her system.

"I didn't see you" he said. His voice was a world of difference from how he'd just spoken. There were no more challenges in his voice. No more bitterness or accusations. Just raw emotion.

"I know"

"_All _summer" he added. He looked at her then and when she refused to meet his gaze, he placed a thumb under her chin and forced her to do so just like he had earlier. She rolled her eyes but didn't turn her head away once their eyes met. She saw a softness in the way he looked at her that made her stomach flutter. She'd rather jump off the roof than have this conversation with him, and yet she stayed. She would always stay for him. She'd do anything for him. That was her curse and his leverage. She'd never be free but knew she could not blame him for one simple reason.

She didn't want to be free.

"Why did you stay away from me?" Sirius asked.

Marlene sighed, "I needed space"

"From me?"

"…Yes"

"I get it" he surprised her by saying, "I would need space from me, too"

"Sirius…"

"Are you done?"

Marlene wanted to look away. She couldn't lie to that face. She felt as she always did when he looked at her. Everybody else could be fooled by her fake smile or her forced gestures. Everyone could be tricked into believing she was happy. But she couldn't deceive him. She never had been able to and he knew it.

"I don't know"

"You think I will hurt you?" Sirius spoke unapologetically. He looked so sad, however, as if he had somehow realized how trained he was in the action.

"I think I have a lot more to be smart about this year" Marlene said.

"I am smart"

Despite herself, she laughed at his comment.

"That was never the issue"

He leaned closer to her. He rested his forehead against hers and her heart melted at the gesture. It was always so easy to be close to him. To be honest with him. Sometimes, she wondered if she'd been the one to ruin it by expecting him to be something he was not. People change though and the thought that he would have done so to fit her better made her feel lightheaded. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad.

She knew what Lily would say but pushed the thought out of her head.

All she could think was that being with him was as easy as breathing and neither thing felt like something she was willing to give up. She had somehow let him become a part of her. It had gone beyond to simply want him. She _needed_ him. This was why they had never been better friends. It had always gone beyond that. They were partners. Not at first a sentimental relation, but something that kept the other alive. Like a heartbeat or a lung. Something vital and impossible to live without but that you on rare occasions actively appreciated.

She could kiss Lupin and other boys all she wanted. She could sing angry songs and pretend that he didn't affect her till the day she died, but it would all just be for show to prove to herself and others that she was fine without him. She was a fraud because she knew in her heart that it was all a lie.

He looked at her again with that look that took her breath away. The look that somehow always let her know that the galaxies in his head could only be summoned into constellations of heartbreak.

"Mar, I don't know what you want but being without you all summer made me realize how awful my life is when you're not around. I don't mean the shagging, well, I like the shagging but also the other part. The _Marlene_ part. How every bit of you affects my life. It's better, with you"

"If…if we do this there's no snogging other girls. There's no ignoring me in front of your housemates or professors or family. It will be an out in the open, smack-dang real relationship"

Sirius grinned at her as he realized the significance of her words.

"I know that"

"And I won't be perfect. I will have days where I yell at you or don't want to see you or just want to shag you. You'll have to be there through it all and not run out on me or something"

"Okay"

"Plus, my mother hates you. Like wants to cook your insides for dinner-hates you"

Sirius smirked, "I suspected as much"

"Also, I have two overprotective older brothers" Marlene reminded him as if it would be the kind of thing he'd forget.

"I've met them" Sirius said.

Marlene met his eyes one last time. He wore that look where his face was serious, but his eyes were smiling. James had said he only wore that when she was around.

"This a mistake" her voice was clear, certain. She believed her words fully but felt it was enough to say it out loud and then pretend it wasn't true.

"Most likely" he agreed instantly.

She finally closed the small space between them. The result was more a collision of smiles than an actual kiss. Their lips met in a soft touch. Like the first fall of snow it was new and young and innocent.

A first for them.

Tonight, forever was a slow song. They held onto each other tightly. It was as if they silently agreed to pretend that it would always be like this. The feeling of the warmth of Sirius' hands through her dress. The way he could taste her smile on her lips. It was as if they had found a patch of sunlight amongst all the dark and stayed there for a moment. They both knew that the world they lived in would never let them stay like this. But in the moment, it was bliss and they were both willing to pretend. They knew that the song would eventually end and that they would be forced to let go. However, for the first time they were in step. They were on the same page and they held on to each other as if they really did have a future.


End file.
